A flexible laboratory and cooperation partner
Being a city that is both sufficiently small and sufficiently big, Helsinki is able to serve as a flexible cooperation partner and test laboratory, even for the biggest global corporations.
Tencent, the eighth biggest company in the world, selected Helsinki in autumn 2017 as partner city for its new mobile app. The partnership concerns a new gadget for Tencent’s WeChat service that will include information about sights, services and events, as well as an interactive map. The WeChat service currently has over 960 million users.
Experiment in Helsinki, refine for the world
Helsinki is a great testbed for experimentation and new forms of creative business. Testing in turn generates data that can be utilised in other business environments.
Kutsuplus is a service that was developed in Helsinki and allowed passengers to order a minibus ride from any stop to another within the area covered by the service. The service was trialled as part of Helsinki’s public transport system for over three years and won a lot of fans among passengers. Since then the app was sold to USA, and in autumn 2017 it was purchased by the world’s biggest carmaker, Volkswagen.
Testbed for smart urban development
Helsinki is committed to serving as a testbed for commercialising smart mobility services, for example, and promoting future technologies.
Smart urban development is being trialled on a broader basis in the new Kalasatama district, where the aim is to save residents an hour a day by offering them functional digital services. These time management services for everyday living are being developed together with the City of Helsinki, residents, local businesses and other actors. Time can be saved by offering efficient transport, logistics and local services, for example.
Kalasatama has already become a popular destination in Helsinki for international innovation tourists. Over the past two years, 1500 smart city experts have already visited the district in search of best practices in terms of smart mobility, lighting and energy.
Local residents active in development work
Local residents play an important role in designing smart solutions that improve the quality of life. Helsinki is constantly creating opportunities for locals to participate, and innovation tourists themselves have shown keen interest in the role played by locals. For example, over 800 of Kalasatama’s 3000 residents have already participated in developing new smart solutions.
When this open and participatory culture is combined with world-class education, high-tech expertise, a comprehensive understanding of design methods and the pioneering utilisation of open data, it is easy to understand why Helsinki serves as such a good testbed for seeking and finding significant solutions.